Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist, an academic, bestselling writer of mystery novels and producer. She is a Professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte but is currently on indefinite leave.[1] She divides her time between work for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology[2] and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Her schedule also involves a number of speaking engagements around the world. In 2019 she received the 'Order of Canada'.
She has been married to Paul Aivars Reichs since 1968. They have three children. Mother of Kerry Reichs.
Biography[]
Reichs studied anthropology at American University, earning a B.A. in 1971. She then received an M.A. (1972) and a Ph.D. (1975) in physical anthropology from Northwestern University. She was an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University from 1974 until 1978, when she accepted a position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She became a full professor in 1996. Reichs began consulting with the office of the chief medical examiner in North Carolina in the mid-1980s. She was certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 1986 and in 1988 began working part of each year at the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale in Quebec. She also taught at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. In 1999 she served as a consultant to the UN Tribunal on Genocide in Rwanda, and in 2001 she helped identify remains of victims of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City. Throughout her academic career, Reichs wrote numerous scholarly articles; she also edited three books on physical and forensic anthropology.
In the late 1980s Reichs wrote a novel, which was not published. She reworked the novel in the mid-1990s, salvaging only the main character, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, from the earlier manuscript. In Brennan, Reichs created a memorable protagonist whose professional life paralleled her own. She gave meticulous accounts of Brennan’s forensic investigations, details of which she sometimes culled from her own lab work. Scribner, the first publisher to receive the completed manuscript for Déjà Dead (1997), signed Reichs to a $1.2 million two-book deal. Déjà Dead won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. Other novels in the series included Death du Jour (1999), Bare Bones (2003), Devil Bones (2008), Bones of the Lost (2013), and Speaking in Bones (2015). The popularity of Reichs’s books led to a television show, Bones, which aired from 2005 to 2017. Reichs consulted with the show’s writers and was also a producer.
Reichs’s other fictional works included Two Nights (2017), about a reclusive former police officer who tries to find a missing teenager. She also wrote (with her son, Brendan Reichs) the young adult series Virals, which chronicles the adventures of Tory Brennan, the grandniece of Temperance Brennan
Academic papers[]
- Quantified comparison of frontal sinus patterns by means of computed tomography. Forensic Science International 1993 Oct;61(2-3):141-68.
- Effect of age and osteoarthritis on bone mineral in rhesus monkey vertebrae. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 1993 Aug;8(8):909-17.
- Forensic anthropology in the 1990s. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 1992 Jun;13(2):146-53.
- Treponematosis: a possible case from the late prehistoric of North Carolina. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 1989 Jul;79(3):289-303.
- Cranial suture eccentricities: a case in which precocious closure complicated determination of sex and commingling. Journal of Forensic Science 1989 Jan;34(1):263-73.
- Ontogenetic plasticity in nonhuman primates: I. Secular trends in the Cayo Santiago macaques. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 1987 Jul;73(3):279-87.
Academic books[]
- Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains (1986)
- Hominid Origins: Inquiries Past and Present (Editor) (1983)
Novels[]
In addition to technical books on Anthropology and Forensics, Kathy Reichs has written ten novels to date, which have been translated into 30 languages.[3] Her first novel, Déjà Dead, won the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.
The fictional heroine in her novels, Temperance "Tempe" Brennan, is also a forensic anthropologist. Her lifestyle closely mimics that of her creator. A good portion of the novels is based on real-life science. Most of the techniques used and technology mentioned are things that Kathy Reichs uses in her real life job. The blood spatters analysis used in Deadly Decisions, for instance, is directly from her job. In the novel Grave Secrets, she uses her experience from her visit to Guatemala to enhance the story. Reichs has said herself that she didn't want her character to be perfect and chose to give Temperance some history.
Temperance Brennan series[]
No. | Title | Published | ISBNs | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Déjà Dead | 1997 | Paperback: ISBNT:0-09-925518-9 Audio CD: ISBNT:1-449-83348-9 |
Won the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel |
2 | Death du Jour | 1999 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-925519-7 Hardcover:ISBNT: 0-684-84118-5 Audio CD:ISBNT : 0-754-05330-X |
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3 | Deadly Décisions | 2000 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-930710-3 Hardback:ISBNT: 0-434-00820-6 |
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4 | Fatal Voyage | 2001 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-930720-0 Audio CD: ISBNT: 1-85686-927-X |
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5 | Grave Secrets | 2002 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-930730-8 Audio CD:ISBNT: 1-85686-928-8 |
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6 | Bare Bones | 2003 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-944147-0 | |
7 | Monday Mourning | 2004 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-944148-9 | |
8 | Cross Bones | 2005 | Paperback:ISBNT: 0-09-944149-7 Hardback:ISBNT: 0-434-01040-5 Audio CD:ISBNT: 1-85686-985-7 |
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9 | Break No Bones | 2006 | Hardback:ISBNT: 0-434-01042-1 Paperback:ISBNT: 0-434-01544-X |
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10 | Bones to Ashes | 2007 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0434014620 Paperback:ISBNT: 978-1416525653 |
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11 | Devil Bones | 2008 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0743294386 Paperback:ISBNT: 978-1-4391-5440-3 Audio CD:ISBNT:978-1846571336 |
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12 | 206 Bones | 2009 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0743294393 Paperback:ISBNT: 978-0-4340-2005-8 |
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13 | Spider Bones | 2010 | ISBNT: 978-0-0995-5686-2 |
released as Mortal Remains in UK and Australia in hardback, reverted to Spider Bones for paperback release |
14 | Flash and Bones | 2011 | ISBNT: 978-1439102411 | |
15 | Bones are Forever | 2012 | ISBNT: 978-0434021130 | |
16 | Bones of the Lost | 2013 | ISBNT: 978-1476754741 | |
17 | Bones Never Lie | 2014 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0345544018 Paperback:ISBNT: 978-0804194471 |
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18 | Speaking in Bones | 2015 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0434021192 | |
19 | The Bone Collection | 2016 | Hardback:ISBNT: 9780606394642 Paperback:ISBNT: 9780399593222 |
A short story collection including First Bones (a prequel to Déjà Dead), Bones in her Pocket, Swamp Bones and Bones on Ice. These books have been numbered as 0.5, 15.5, 16.5, 17.5, respectively.[4] |
20 | A Conspiracy of Bones | 2020 | Hardback:ISBNT: 9781785151187 | |
21 | The Bone Code | 2021 |
Stand-alone books[]
No. | Title | Published | ISBNs | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Two Nights | 2017 | Hardback:ISBNT: 978-0434021116 Paperback:ISBNT: 978-1524755577 |
Stand-alone, "off-series" novel with new characters.[5][6] |
Virals series[]
Title | Published | ISBN | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Virals | 2010 | ISBNT: 978-0099543947 | |
'Seizure | 2011 | ISBNT: 978-1595143945 | |
Code | 2013 | ISBNT: 978-0099543855 | |
Exposure | 2014 | ISBNT: 978-1595145307 | |
Terminal | 2015 | ISBNT: 978-1595145284 | |
Trace Evidence | 2016 | ISBNT: 978-1784752392 | a short story collection including Shock, Shift, Swipe and Spike (a new story set after the events of Terminal). |
Novellas[]
Reichs has released six downloadable short stories:
Title | Published | Notes |
---|---|---|
Shift | 2013 | Set in the Virals country, but featuring both the Virals characters and Temperance Brennan. |
Bones In Her Pocket | 2013 | A Temperance Brennan story giving details of a case briefly mentioned in Bones of the Lost. |
Swipe | 2013 | A Virals story, also featuring Temperance Brennan, set at Comic-Con in San Diego. |
Swamp Bones | 2014 | A Temperance Brennan story set in the Florida Everglades. |
Shock | 2015 | A Virals story telling how they first meet. |
Bones On Ice | 2015 | A Temperance Brennan story of how she gets wrapped up in the ultimate cold case: a death on Mount Everest. |
Television[]
- Main article: Bones (TV series)
A 2005 FOX television series, Bones, is inspired by Reichs' life and writing.[7] The series borrows the name of the books' heroine, Temperance "Bones" Brennan. As in the books, Temperance (Emily Deschanel) is a forensic anthropologist. She moonlights as an author, writing about a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs. The TV series does not tie in with the book series. It includes a cast of new characters and while the books are all set in either North Carolina or Montreal, the television series is based in Washington, D.C.
Reichs appeared in an episode of Bones, Judas on a Pole, in which she played Professor Constance Wright, a forensic anthropologist on the board performing Zack Addy's Thesis Defense.[8]
Screenwriter[]
Season 5[]
Season 9[]
Season 10[]
Season 11[]
References[]
- ↑ List of faculty at UNCC
- ↑ List of ABFA Diplomats
- ↑ Kathy Reichs book suppliers
- ↑ GoodReads. GoodReads. Retrieved 2016/12/23.
- ↑ Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 2016/12/23.
- ↑ Website. Website. Retrieved 2016/12/23.
- ↑ Bones Show Info
- ↑ IMDB profile for Bones episode Judas on a Pole